So Block Island

Deer oh Deer – Meet Block Island's Unlikeliest Residents

Block Island's deer: adorable neighbors or unwanted pests?

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They first rode the ferry in 1967, have hundreds of homes throughout the island, go out to eat every night and would just love a taste of your rhododendrons. While no one knows exactly how many white-tailed deer are on Block Island, estimates range from a few hundred to more than one thousand. Depending on which side of the garden fence you stand, deer are adorable and fun to watch bounding over stone walls or a complete nuisance in need of some serious control.

Block Island had a rod and gun club back then and members wanted another sporting option, so two pairs were delivered on February 24, 1967, but only after much consternation and debate. Some islanders recount they were brought to Payne Farm and released, disappearing into the brush, seldom to be seen for years. Just a decade later, town officials were discussing how to deal with them destroying gardens and trees, they being voracious eaters and prolific reproducers with nature’s gift for disappearing quickly.

Deer have a taste for green plants, acorns, blueberries, apples, nuts and seemingly anything raised behind a fence. During winter, they will forage on twigs or leaves and in the hardest of times, even resort to eating cedar and pine bark. Young does typically give birth to one fawn each year while more mature deer tend to bear twins so it’s easy to see how a population could easily grow out of control, especially with no predators other than humans.


As the population grew and various removal or reduction options were rejected, hunting became an option to keep the herd in check. Islanders have a unique understanding of the island’s geography and who lives where and when, making them the best candidates to harvest any deer. An attempt two years ago to contract mainland hunters was cancelled at the last minute due in no small part to their unfamiliarity with the island’s physical and personal nuances and their unconventional methods. The last few seasons, the Town has offered resident hunters $150 per tail to encourage that reduction. It was successful, as 400 deer were taken that first year compared with 258 during the 2015-16 hunting season.

Residents have tried myriad passive tricks to keep hungry deer at bay, like sprinkling soap chips, hanging bags of fabric softener, mothballs or pungent garlic, planting lemon balm and iris alongside their favorite vegetables, even sprinkling human hair here or there. Deer eyes have more rods than cones and thus superior night vision, so those popular motion lights around the shed ultimately just light up exactly where the good greens are. They have also become accustomed to tourists on mopeds and kids snapping their pictures so scarecrows, while handy for giving crows a rest, do little to keep white-tails away.

Island deer are special residents who can be seen grazing peacefully in yards and alongside Conservancy trails, looking back from behind bushes, knocking down stone walls and continuing to repopulate, all while waiting for those delicious blueberries to ripen just so perfectly.

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